The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ga. lieutenant governor race a mix of experience, newcomers
With Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s eyes set on the Governor’s Mansion, five candidates — some veteran lawmakers and others political newcomers — are hoping to be the next to hold the state’s second-highest office.
Three Republicans and two Democrats will be on primary election ballots, each hoping to secure enough votes to represent his or her political party in November.
While the Republican race is made up of men who are either current or former legislators, both Democrats are women making their first foray into public office.
All five candidates said in addition to presiding over the Senate, the lieutenant governor’s office puts them in a position to take a leadership role in shaping the state’s policy discussions.
“I either wanted to be in charge or I wanted to go,” said former state Rep. Geoff Duncan, a Cumming Republican.
And each candidate says he or she has something a little different to bring to the role.
Tackling the state’s issues
This isn’t the first time state Sen. David Shafer, a Duluth Republican, has explored a run for lieutenant governor. He campaigned briefly for the job in 2008 and 2009 before Cagle announced he would stay on as lieutenant governor.
But after serving 16 years, five of them as the Senate president
pro tempore, Shafer said he felt he’d done all he could as a state senator.
“It’s time for me to move up or move on,” he said.
Shafer, a DeKalb County native and University of Georgia graduate, said he’s frustrated by the pace at which legislation is tackled in the Senate — starting slow and sprinting to a finish as the session ends.
“Every issue should be considered separately on its merit,” he said. “Logjams at the end of the session end up being resolved by trading one issue for another. The result is multiple poorly thought out ideas become law.”
Shafer said if elected, he would continue work to lower the state’s income tax rate. The General Assembly this year approved lowering the state’s top income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent.
Duncan, who likes to position himself as an outsider, said the politics of lawmaking needs to be changed. Of the Republican candidates, he served the least amount of time in public office — five years.
An Alpharetta native, Duncan graduated from Chattahoochee High School before heading to Georgia Tech on a baseball scholarship. He left school early and played six seasons in the minor leagues.
Duncan said if elected, he would put an end to legislative horse trading. Being lieutenant governor “gives an opportunity for me to put my policy-over-politics leadership style on display,” he said.
Former state Sen. Rick Jeffares, a Locust Grove Republican who owns a wastewater company, said he wants to focus on education by putting policies in place to train students who are not going to college in a trade.
He said his son-in-law is a contractor who often has to hire workers away from other job sites because high school graduates don’t have the skills to work on his projects.
“Half of the kids aren’t going to college,” Jeffares said. “We need to prepare those kids to go to work.”
According to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 62 percent of 2016 high school graduates pursued higher education at a college or technical school.
Both Democratic candidates listed expanding access to health care insurance as their top priority if elected.
Triana Arnold James said she would work to expand access to Medicaid, the state-federal public health program for the poor, disabled and elderly living in nursing homes.
James, a Smyrna native and small business owner who graduated from Morris Brown College, said keeping hospitals open, especially in rural areas, connects directly to the economy.
A U.S. Army veteran, James said she’s advocated for different issues at the statehouse over the years and decided to run because she was tired of hitting a brick wall.
“I didn’t just wake up or go to the (women’s) march and say ‘I want to be lieutenant governor,’ ” she said. “I’ve been boots-on-the-ground for a long time.”
In 2017, the city of Marietta and the House of Representatives recognized James for her work promoting cervical cancer awareness.
James’ primary opponent, Sarah Riggs Amico, ties lack of access to health insurance to the state’s public education system. Amico said she believes investing in schools leads to putting better-educated graduates in position to get well-paying jobs with health benefits.
Amico, who grew up in Missouri before moving to Marietta in 2011, said the “chronic underfunding of public education” has resulted in graduates struggling to find jobs in their hometowns. The General Assembly this year fully funded public schools for the first time since 2002.
“(It) has created a barrier to economic development and job creation, trapping people into situations where their children may not have access to the same America that their parents had,” she said.
Amico, who is the executive chairwoman of a transportation company, touts her business experience as the reason Georgians should vote for her.
Garnering support
Of the five candidates, Shafer raised the most money by the March 31 campaign filing deadline with $1.6 million in contributions. Jeffares secured about $826,000 in donations, followed by Duncan with $788,000.
Shafer also has the most support from Republican voters, according to a recent poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Of registered Republicans polled, 14 percent said they would cast their ballot for Shafer.
Duncan was a close second in the AJC poll, securing support from 12 percent of likely voters. Jeffares received support from 7 percent of probable voters. The poll has a 4.4 percent margin of error.
Being the leading candidate, and securing endorsements from conservative groups including GeorgiaCarry.org, the National Rifle Association and Georgia Right to Life, has put a target on Shafer’s back.
Jeffares, a longtime hunter and gun rights advocate, said he was disappointed he didn’t receive the NRA’s endorsement. He challenged Shafer to what he called a “friendly clay shoot,” with the winner backing out of the race. Shafer declined.
Duncan also tries to set himself apart from Shafer.
“The other folks in the race are career politicians,” he said. “I understand conservative values, and I won’t have a circus of controversy flying around me.”
Shafer last month was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee when lawmakers dismissed a sexual harassment complaint filed by a lobbyist. Shafer maintains he did nothing wrong and that the accusations were fabricated.
He said the allegations haven’t hindered his campaign.
On the Democratic side, an AJC poll found that 20 percent of potential voters would choose James, with 10 percent siding with Amico. When it comes to fundraising, Amico is far ahead, reporting about $711,000 in donations as of March 31. James reported a little less than $10,000 in cash contributions.
But all five candidates have to work to build support.
Of the Republicans polled, 67 percent had not decided who they would choose for lieutenant governor. Seventy percent of Democratic voters said they were undecided.